Abba Kyari: ‘Buhari May Appoint Personal Secretary Instead Of Chief Of Staff’

President Muhammadu Buhari can opt for a personal secretary to replace the late Abba Kyari if he is not disposed to appointing a new Chief of Staff.

This was according to retired Brig. General Jones Arogbofa, a former chief of staff to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan.

Arogba said no law compels President Buhari to appoint a new chief of staff after losing Kyari to Coronavirus (COVID-19) last week Friday.

The retired general stated these while appearing as a guest on Channels TV’s ‘Politics Today’ on Thursday.

“Legally, the President can afford not to appoint another CoS , he may decide to use a personal secretary,” Arogbofa said in response to a question asked by the anchor, Seun Okinbaloye.

Arogbofa however said if the president must appoint a replacement for Kyari, he must “Look for people who have the qualifications, people who are flexible, people who have the ability to get the job done.”

Also responding to a question on why some people refer to the chief of staff as the de facto president of the federation, the retired general said: “Anywhere in the world, the Chief of Staff is powerful. Anybody who controls human and material resources for an organisation is surely powerful.”

Buhari’s chief of staff died on Friday after three weeks of battling with the deadly Coronavirus.

Kyari was the first top government official to die as a result of COVID-19 infection.

Meanwhile, as of Thursday, April 23, Nigeria had confirmed a total of 981 cases of the virus.

Figures released by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) also showed that 197 of the total cases had recovered, while the country had recorded a total of 31 deaths from the virus.